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Book Launch: Nature-Based Allied Health Practice with Affiliate Amy Wagenfeld and Shannon Marder

“Amy Wagenfeld & Shannon Marder are excited to launch their book: Nature-Based Allied Health Practice: Creative and Evidence-Based Strategies. The benefits of interacting with nature for our social, cognitive, and physical wellbeing are well documented. But how practical is it to take therapy into nature, or bring nature into therapy? This evidence-based and accessible guide demonstrates easily workable, creative, tried-and-tested strategies for bringing nature into therapy. It includes simple and fun ready-to-go activity ideas. Using the life-course as a framework,…

Alumni Spotlight: Craig Skipton ’03

This month we are highlighting Craig Skipton! He graduated from the MLA program in 2003 and currently works as the director of landscape architecture for Western Washington at AHBL. Craig is committed to diversifying what landscape architects do by engaging with people’s passions, finding new ways to bridge the gap between science and landscape architecture as well as improving educational environments through design. Craig and his wife also run a farm together called Heyday Farm on Bainbridge Island, which was completely designed and built by him! Read on to learn more of his story!

Alumni Spotlight: Biruk Belay BLA ’14

This month we are spotlighting landscape architect Biruk Belay (BLA, 2014). He currently lives in Seattle and works at Site Workshop.   UWLA: Could you outline your professional journey between graduation and today? BB: I graduated with a Bachelors in Landscape Architecture in 2014. During my final year of school, I was able to secure an internship at a firm here in Seattle. Soon after that, I had the opportunity to practice Landscape Architecture in Boston, Massachusetts where I spent…

Sherry Xu (MLA ’22) in Kubota Garden Foundation Newsletter

Meet Sherry Xu When I first entered Kubota Garden, I was struck by its unique and traditional Japanese landscape features. I wanted to know more about how such a beautiful Japanese garden was designed, built, developed, and maintained, so I decided to volunteer with the Kubota Garden Foundation. To learn more about Kubota Garden, I decided to participate in the “Tuesdays in the Garden” events first. During the weekly mulching and weeding activities, I was fortunate to meet many volunteers…

Mikyoung Kim Design, UW alums, Recipient of ASLA Firm of the Year Award

The American Society of Landscape Architects recently awarded Mikyoung Kim Design the Firm of the Year Award, the highest honor that the ASLA bestows on a landscape architecture firm. Congratulations to UW alums, Associate Principal Bryan Chou (CEP ‘ 02) and Associate Jess Hamilton (MLA ’17)!   Mikyoung Kim Press Release Boston, Massachusetts August 2, 2022 Mikyoung Kim Design is this year’s recipient of the Firm of the Year award from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) which is…

Alumni Feature

Jocine Velasco (MLA ’21), Rhys Coffee (MLA ’23), and Ken Yocom are working closely with the Burke Museum, the UW Native American Advisory Board, UW Grounds and Maintenance, and the design firm GGN to study the health and viability of a camas meadow recently designed and installed at the Burke Museum on the UW campus. The collaboration is working to develop interpretive strategies to communicate the importance of this habitat type in the Cascade region for indigeneous communities while also seeking to understand how the…

Landscape Architecture alumni establish a fund for equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts

During their time as students in Landscape Architecture, Rhiannon Neuville, Peter Samuels, and Jake Minden set out to establish a support fund in their department to help advance equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) efforts. Launched in December 2020, the UW//LA Fund for Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion aims to financially support a wide range of programs in UW’s Department of Landscape Architecture oriented toward justice in design education and, more broadly, EDI-oriented work within the field. Administered by the UW//LA Justice,…

Alumni Spotlight: Kara Weaver, BLA ’05

For this edition of Alumni Spotlight we had the opportunity to speak with Kara Weaver, a landscape architect at Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN) and a 2005 graduate of the BLA program. UW/LA: Could you describe your current position and what a typical day looks like for you? K: Right now I am the Project Manager for the Civic Park at Hemisfair in San Antonio, Texas. It’s sort of San Antonio’s counterpart to the Seattle Center, which was built for the…